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Those weird guys on the street corner wearing Astros jerseys? They work for us.

If you’re driving around town on Friday and happen to see a couple of young guys in the old rainbow-style Astros jerseys from the ’70s, you might want to honk, wave…and collect some free stuff, courtesy of the team.

By stuff, I mean Jose Cruz autographed bobbleheads. The Astros are holding a city-wide scavenger hunt this Friday (April 23), and the first person to find our two studly rainbow jersey-toting front office workers at each location will receive a signed Cruuuuuuuuuz bobblehead and two tickets to Saturday’s game.

I couldn’t think of an apropos way to say, “What were you thinking?” when I approached the Lance Berkman about his ill-fated attempt to steal third base in the sixth inning on Wednesday, so I just decided to take the blunt approach. And as always, Puma’s response was equal parts direct and thorough.

“I was thinking, ‘Nobody in the stadium expects me to steal third right there,’ he said. “It was the sixth inning, and I thought the worst case scenario was that we would end up with Carlos (Lee) on second base with two outs in the sixth, against a tough pitcher where a hit still ties the game.”

If he made it to third, Berkman reasoned, they had a chance to score an easy run against Josh Johnson, whom the Astros were having very little luck against for the majority of the right-hander’s outing.

“The thinking was sound,” Puma said. “The mind was willing. But, the body was weak. I did not realize my leg was as weak as it is.”

Berkman realized this about four steps into his journey, but of course, by then, it was too late. He had no choice but to finish what he started, and a steal attempted ended with a head-first slide that fell far short of actually reaching the base.

“If I had to do it all over again, clearly, I would not have attempted it,” Berkman said.

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